


Hoofbeats

by Molione



Category: Horseback Riding - Fandom, Horses - Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Funny, Gen, Growing Up, Horses are cool, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-11
Updated: 2013-02-11
Packaged: 2017-11-28 22:40:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/679665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Molione/pseuds/Molione
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After being caught drinking alcohol at a party much too old for him, thirteen year old Luke Dvorak's parents decide the best thing to do is give him a fresh start with his aunt and uncle in Briarstown, a small town in east Texas with no claims to fame other than a friendly community and a love of horseback riding. From the big city of Houston, to the middle of nowhere. Luke is sent to Briar Creek Stable, where he will be taking horseback riding lessons, in the hope it will teach him discipline and giving him something new to do. Luke's bad attitude is well matched with a temperamental and mischievous horse, Devil's Advocate, who seems hell-bent on making Luke's life more miserable than it already is. It's up to Luke, however, if he'll learn anything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hoofbeats

**Author's Note:**

> Just a note that Briarstown is fictional - any similarity to a real place is unintentional. 
> 
> Let me know what you think of this first chapter! :3

The red compact car driving to Briar Creek Stable was eerily quiet. In the front seat were two adults, a man and woman, presumably married from the matching gold rings on their middle fingers, the way the woman touched the man’s arm every once and awhile, and the concerned looks they shared between each other and the boy seated in the back of the car. The boy was facing the window, avoiding any eye contact with the adults in the front, his face in a stubborn scowl. He let his shaggy dirty blonde hair hide his face from the rearview mirror, and held his arms firmly across his chest. He knew his destination, and he did not like it.

“Luke,” The woman spoke up after another quiet moment. “Your parents mean well by sending you here. And your uncle and I both ride here on the weekends, and we enjoy it.” She shared a smile with her husband before looking back at Luke. The reaction was not an improvement.

Luke Dvorak snorted. _That’s you, Aunt Jen. Not me. You and Uncle Harry can enjoy it all you want, but I have better things I could be doing._ He thought. Besides, he was being forced to come to this stupid stable, all because of one mistake. He didn’t want to be here, and besides, Briarstown, Texas was in the middle of nowhere. After the big city of Houston, it might as well have been Nothingsville, Nowhereton. He wouldn’t know anyone, and the other kids were probably all obsessed with horses and wouldn’t know about anything cool.  
  
“Luke, you have to at least give it a try. You might like it. And if you don’t, it’s only until Christmas break. It’ll be good for you.” Uncle Harry spoke up, his voice a little terse. He was less patient than his wife, who put a hand on his shoulder to make sure he kept his eyes on the road.  
  
“More like forever.” Luke grumbled. This decision of his parents to send him to live with his aunt and uncle was the worst idea he’d heard of. He hated it. Christmas break was months away, and his friends back home in Houston were probably doing something cooler, like playing soccer. He wondered briefly if anyone here liked to play soccer, then decided he wouldn’t want to play with them anyway. They all liked _horses_ , so they probably didn’t care about things that weren’t horse related.

All of this was because of one mistake. He would admit it had been a big mistake, but it wasn’t his fault the cops had showed up. They hadn’t any other night that he and his friends had gone to a party and there had been alcohol. He had been mad at his parents, and so had thought that having a drink or two would help calm him down. But then the cops had shown up, and everything had gone crazy.

Since it was his first offence, and he was only thirteen (and thus had a chance to “turn around” according to the judge), Luke got off with a fine of $150, which his parents had to pay. They were less than pleased. Luke had never seen his father so angry, but in the end, they decided that the best punishment would be to introduce him to something new, and send him to where he wouldn’t be near “bad company” for a while. At least it wasn’t permanent – they said he could come back by Christmas if he improved in his attitude and promised not to do anything like that again.  
  
Left with his gloomy thoughts, and little to look forward to other than horses for the next six months, he looked out the window at the dry, dusty landscape. There were some trees, but not many – it was mostly grassland, which was common in eastern Texas. As he watched the landscape fly by, the car drove past three riders galloping on horses, laughing and calling to each other. It looked like they were racing each other. They looked so…  
  
Stupid, he finally decided. What was so fun about running around on a horse? Luke couldn’t understand it. He was distracted, however, by the appearance of a sign that read “Briar Creek Stable” and showed silhouettes of horses jumping, running around barrels, and one apparently posing (Aunt Jen had tried to explain that it was called dressage – when he heard about it, it had made horseback riding sound even more girly, so he didn’t pay much attention to it).  
  
“Here we are, Luke.” Aunt Jen tried to make eye contact with him as they parked, turning in her seat, but he Luke was gone. Once out of the car, his aunt and uncle looked around at the sights of the stables, clearly pleased, but Luke just stepped out of the car, looking down at the ground. He wasn’t interested in his surroundings; he was interested in going home.  
  
Two people, a tall, brown-haired man and an older blonde woman, came up to the three of them with a friendly wave.

“Howdy, folks! Jen, Harry, good to see you. Are you going to ride today?” The man asked, shaking hands with Luke’s guardians.

“I’m afraid not, Dan. We’ve got to head back to work, but we were just dropping Luke off for his first lesson today.” Jen smiled at Luke, who looked up grudgingly. Dan smiled at him.

“Hello, Luke! I’ve heard a lot about you. You ready to ride?” He asked enthusiastically.

“No. I don’t want to ride.” Luke replied.

The older woman smiled and gave Dan a rap on the shoulder. “Don’t push the boy – he’ll come around. I’m Mrs. Trevino. But you can call me Olivia, if you like.”

“Whatever.” Luke mumbled, rolling his eyes. The whole “playing nice” trick was something he didn’t like. Adults always tried to act like they were his friend, but they weren’t. They took him away from home, put him into an activity he hated, and then expected him to be happy about it? _Yeah, sure. It’s great!_ He refrained from releasing this bit of sarcasm, but only just.

Olivia gave him a pointed look. “We’ll soon get that attitude fixed. Can’t have grumps around _my_ stable.” She chuckled. “I’ll go and get Paige.” She addressed Dan before waving pleasantly in farewell to Jen and Harry and walking off into the barn.

They exchanged a few moments of pleasantries before his aunt suddenly looked at her watch.  
“We have to get going, Luke, but Paige will be here any minute. You’ll like her, she’s very nice. Just listen to Dan, Olivia, and Paige – they’ll help you out. Call us if you need anything!” Aunt Jen reassured him before she and Harry headed back to their car.  
  
Luke watched them leave with distaste. _I won’t be calling._ He knew that. They couldn’t give him the one thing he wanted: home. He looked around, vaguely interested in who this Paige girl would be.

He soon got his answer as a girl with dark brown hair in pigtail braids walked over to him. She looked to be around his age, which he decided was a small plus. She had a scattering of freckles on her face and a small, kind smile to go with them. Her hazel eyes seemed to glitter with greeting as well as she held out her hand to him.

“Hi Luke, I’m Paige Davenport. Olivia says you’re new to the stable! Going to have your first lesson today?” She asked cheerfully. Her tone made Luke want to gag.

“Yeah, whatever. Hi.” He took her hand, shook it exactly one time, and then let go. She put her hands on her hips.

“Hey, don’t “whatever” me. I’m only trying to help.” She retorted, but Dan put a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s his first day, Paige. Be nice. Would you mind helping him tack up? We’ve put him on Dev.”

“Dev? But isn’t Dev –?”

Dan cut off her question. “Dev is a fine horse. He’s had beginners before. He’s just a little… ornery, sometimes.”

“Sometimes?” Paige giggled. Luke wasn’t sure he liked the way she was giggling, or the conversation that she and Dan had just had.

Recovering from her giggles, Paige shrugged. “Whatever you say, Dan. Come on, grumbleguts.” She turned and walked into the stable. Luke followed after her, realizing he didn’t have much choice.

She was waiting for him outside of a room within the stable. Once she saw him, she went inside.

“This is the tack room.” She explained once he followed her inside. He looked around at all of the horse gear – saddles, bridles, and other things he didn’t have names for. “Each horse has their own tack – their saddle, bridle, snaffle bit, and so on. Dev is a school horse, so his tack is over here.” She indicated the left side of the room where they were standing. Each set of tack (he supposed that was the word for their supplies) had a name on a name tag, which was located on the end of a wooden post that held the saddle. The bridles and other things were hung behind it.

“I own my own horse, so her tack is over there.” Paige pointed to the other side of the room. “But we’ll tack yours up first. My lesson is later, so I have time to help you out. Unless you know how to do everything already.” She teased, but Luke just sighed.

“Which one is mine?” He asked flatly, ignoring her statement. He really knew nothing about horses, but he wasn’t going to make that obvious on purpose.

“Here,” She tapped a saddle on a post to their right. The name tag read: Devil’s Advocate.

“What kind of a name is that?” He asked, almost laughing at the absurdity of it all.

“Horses have all kinds of names. That one isn’t even the craziest,” She said eagerly. “There was once this racehorse I saw on TV, and –”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s nice. Can we move on?” Luke cut her off before things got too weird. She looked annoyed, but removed the saddle from the post, and laid the bridle and other bits over it.

“Can you get the grooming supplies? We’ll have to groom Dev before you ride him.” She nodded to a green bucket with numerous brushes inside, as well as a pick. Luke groaned – he would have to carry things? He bent down and picked it up, following Paige down the row of stalls.

There wasn’t a horse in each stall, but every horse that was inside poked their head out and whickered at the passing pair. Paige had a kind word for each of them; Luke tried not to get bitten, stepping away from every horse that got too close.

“They’re not going to bite.” She remarked with a laugh. “All of the horses at Briar Creek are very nice. Otherwise they wouldn’t be here.”

Luke didn’t know if he should trust her or not – it might be a trick. She stopped outside of a stall with the name tag “Devil’s Advocate” that read “Dev” in smaller letters underneath. She slung the saddle and everything on it over the side of the stall door and opened it up.

“Bring that in, and I’ll show you how to brush him.” She nodded to his bucket and went inside. He followed reluctantly. She was already patting the horse’s nose and making baby talk at him by the time he entered. The horse, Dev, was a dark blue-gray color, and had a black mane and tail. He wasn’t very colorful, but had a star and stripe of white on his forehead. He seemed big to Luke – Dev’s shoulder reached his forehead, but he could see over if he tilted his head back. At least it wasn’t a girly looking horse, Luke decided.

“Close the door behind you.” Paige instructed before turning her attention back to Dev. “Be nice, Dev,” She told him in a warm voice. The horse turned his head, both ears pointed directly at Luke, snorting as he entered. Luke stepped forward cautiously, giving the horse a wary eye. Promptly, Dev nudged his head into his chest, pushing Luke back a few steps.

“What was that for?” He protested.

“Don’t worry, Dev likes to play around. He’s a good horse, though.”

“Then why were you so surprised Dan put him with me?” Luke accused.

She shrugged and went back to stroking the horse’s nose. “Only because there are other horses that might be better. But Dev’s a perfectly good horse, aren’t you, Devy?” She cooed, and the horse whickered.

“Show off.” Luke grumbled.

“What, are you jealous?” Paige laughed. “Now bring that bucket over to me.”

Luke looked around. Dev was standing in the exact middle of the stall. He decided to try going around his back, and moved that way, but the horse stepped back, barring his path. He pointed his eyes skyward and moved toward the head. When he tried to walk past, Dev stepped forward. Luke threw up his free hand in annoyance.

“He’s doing it on purpose!” He complained to Paige.

She giggled. “Let me help.” She took a hold of the navy blue halter Dev was wearing and pushed back, clicking her tongue until Dev complied and moved back. “Come this way. Much safer than going around the back.” She informed him as he moved to join her.

He nodded in acknowledgement. Reaching into the bucket, Paige removed the pick. “Let’s get started.”

The whole experience was a disaster. Dev seemed to have the most fun “playing around” with Luke, as Paige liked to call it. He shoved Luke around, pinned him against the stall’s side twice, shoved his nose into his chest, and very nearly stepped on his foot. Luke was pretty sure he was just messing with him because he could. It sounded stupid, because it was just a dumb horse, but there was something about this horse that was bothering him. When they finally went through all the steps – including picking the dirt out of his hooves, rubbing him down with two different brushes – they finally put a pad and saddle on his back. Luke tried to get him to remove the halter and put in the bridle, at Paige’s insistence, but Dev just kept backing away, moving his head side to side.

“Hold still, you stupid horse!” Luke snapped. With Paige’s help, he managed to get the bridle in place.

“Just in time,” Paige said, looking at her watch. “Your lesson starts in three minutes. Here, I’ll take you there and help you mount up.”

Luke looked at Dev with disgust. He couldn’t imagine actually riding this foul creature, not after the way it tormented him. He walked a short distance away from him as Paige led him out to the practice arena, where a small group of students were already gathered on horses of all shapes, sizes, and colors.

_Great, a lesson with more losers._ He thought inwardly. Paige wasn’t entirely a loser (maybe), but she was obsessed with stupid horses, so she was mostly a loser, in his book.

“Okay, time to mount up.” She addressed Luke, calling him over. He had put on the helmet that was required for all riders to where, and felt especially dumb. She put two hands crossed together near the stirrup.

“Step into my hand and swing your other leg over, okay?”

Luke nodded. He reached up to take the front of the saddle (the horn, as Paige had tried to tell him), and put his foot into her hands. He didn’t feel very safe doing this, but he gave it a try anyway. He swung his leg up, but it didn’t quite make it and he ended up kicking Dev’s flank. The horse let out a whinny of displeasure, trying to back away hastily. Luke fell back, staggering on his feet.

Paige was immediately at the horse’s side. “Easy, Dev, easy.” Once the horse was sufficiently calm, she returned and put her hands together again. “Again. Come on, you don’t have time to mess around.”

“I don’t want to.” He complained.

“Come on, Luke, Dan will be here any minute to start teaching.” Paige insisted. When he didn’t respond, she gave him a stern look. “Get on the horse!” She said firmly.

He muttered under his breath, but swung his leg over again, this time making it into the saddle. He fit his feet into the stirrups at Paige’s prompting, and took the reins cautiously. It felt strange, being so high off the ground. Dev snorted. Paige led him inside the ring, and put him with the other horses and riders.

“I’ll see you later to help you untack Dev,” was her only farewell before she turned and left the ring. Luke turned in the saddle, feeling a desperate moment where he wanted to call her back – she was the closest thing he had to someone normal, and now she was leaving.

Once she was out of sight, he slowly turned back around, not sure he was ready to face this experience. Not with _this_ horse. Not with _any_ horse.

Not ever.


End file.
